Elevator boot structure



\ April 10, 1934. A. P. WINTER 1,954,503

ELEVATOR BOOT STRUCTURE Filed July 6. 1951 Patented Apr. 10, 1934 PATENTOFFICE ELEVATOR BOOT STRUCTURE August P. Winter, .Winnipeg, .Manitoba,Canada, assignor to Samuel C. Glow, Minneapolis,Minn.

Application July 6, 1931, Scria1'No.,548,761

3 Claims.

My present invention relates to elevators'of the type wherein materialsuchas grain, sand or cement are received into a boot and elevatedthrough legs by means of bucket-equipped elevating belts that arearranged to run over upper and lower pulleys. Elevators of thischaracter are used in various places such as grain-receiving and storagehouses (generally designated as grain elevators) in mills, and elsewherefor the elevating of grain from a pit or lower floor to ahigherelevation for the delivery into bins. It is customary to apply the powerfor driving the bucket-equipped elevator belt to the upper belt pulleyand usually the operators floor is located above the elevator boot inthe receiving pit and below the point of application of the drivingpower. More particularly the invention provides a novelmounting for thelower belt pulley which is located in the boot in the receiving pit. In

accordance with the invention, the lower belt pulley is mounted by novelmeans so that in a sense it floats and is capable of vertical movementsautomatically under over-accumulation of grain in the lower boot or byhand control.

Among the objects of this invention is the provision of an extremelysimple, highly efficient and readily adjustable lower pulley mounting ofthekind described. This and other objects will be pointed out'in thespecification.

Generally stated, the invention consists of the novel devices andcombinations of' devices hereinafter described and defined in theclaims.

In the accompanying drawing, which illustrates the invention, likecharacters indicate like parts throughout the several views.

As will hereinafter be noted, the preferred embodiment of the inventioncomprises a connection with a boot and variable guides, a verticallyadjustable frame, a spindle for angular adjustments in the frame, and aboot pulley rotatably mounted onthe spindle.

Referring to the drawing:

Fig. 1 is a fragmentary view partly in elevation and partly in sectionon the line 1--1 of Fig. 2 showing the boot, a portion of the operatorsfloor, and means for releasing or decreasing the driving frictionbetween the elevator belt and pulleys;

Fig. 2 is a. view partly in side elevation and partly in section on theline 22 of Fig. 1, some parts being broken away;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged horizontal section taken on the line 3--3 of Fig.1, some parts beingbroken away;

Fig. 4 is a detail section on the-lineA-i of as provided with oppositelyprojecting receiving hoppers 9 adapted to be opened and closed byvertically movable sliding gates 10, one or the other of which will beopen and the other closed, depending on which side ofthe boot the grainisto be delivered thereto; The numeral 11 indicates the elevator beltequipped with the customary buckets 12. This belt will run over and bedriven in theusual way from a driving powerdriven pulley, not shown,located at the upper portion of the boot above the extreme upper ends ofthe legs 8; The lower portion of thebelt, that isthat portion thatrunsthrough the boot, runs under an idle pulley 13-that is journaled ona non-rotary spindle 14, through suitable bearings such as rollerbearings 15.

As a feature of this invention spindle 14 is not supported directly bythe boot but is carried by a vertically movable frame which, in turn,is'vertically movable in said boot. This frame has vertically disposedbar-like legs 16 and 17' that are guided for true verticalmovements onthe interior surfaces of the boot by means of guide cleats 18. A crossbar 19 is rigidly secured to and. braced from the leg 16 and the leg 1'7is adjustably secured to the end of said cross bar preferably bydevices, shown in Figs. 1, 5' and 6, by reference to which it will benotedthat the cross bar 19 has ahorizontal slot 19 that crosses theintermediate portion, of a vertical slot 17 The said members 16,17and,l9,are preferably. rolled steel and a nut-equipped bo1t20 ispassedthrough the slots 1'7 and 19 to, rigidly secure together themembers 17 and 19. A vertically disposed adjusting rod or bolt 21equipped at its upper end with a nut 22 is passed downward through andworks in a slot 19' in the upper surface of the bar 19' andhasalaterally bent end 21* that is inserted through and secured to theupper end'portion of the leg 1'7.

Spindle 1'4 issecured to-the-legs 16 and 1'7 by novel means best shownin Figs. 3' and 4. The

ends of the spindle 14 are fitted through holes 23 in bearings 24 thatare riveted, bolted or otherwise rigidly secured to the lower portionsof the legs 16 and 17. The edges of the holes 23 are rounded in radialcross-section so that spindle 14 is capable of some angular movements inrespect to the bearings 14 and said spindle is held against rotation butfree for rocking movements in a vertical plane by means of pointed setscrews 25 screwed through the bearings 24, as best shown in Fig. 4, andengaging the spindle with their points.

In view of the adjustable connections between the spindle 14 andbearings 24 just described and by means of the adjustable connectionsbest shown in detail in Fig. 6 and above described, the legs 16 and 1'?can be set in exact parallel laterally spaced adjustment and the spindle14 can be angularly adjusted in a vertical plane and in respect to thebucket-equipped belt 11 so as to set the pulley 13 in the bestadjustment for contact with the bucket-equipped belt. The lateraltravelling position of the belt in respect to the sides of the boot andlower pulley is, of course, determined by the angular adjustment of thepulley and this may be readily adjusted to cause the belt to travel in adesired lateral position by raising or lowering the frame leg 17 inrespect to the frame leg 1.6 of cross bar 19 and thereby verticallytilting the spindle 14 and lower pulley 13. Another important feature ofthe above noted arrangement is that the bars 16 and 17 of the verticallymovable frame may be adjusted for different lateral spacings so that thevertically movable frame may be adapted for use in boots of varyingwidths. The last noted adjustment is accomplished by loosening the setscrews 25 and sliding the bearings 24 inward or outward on the spindle14 until correct spacing is obtained between the lower ends of the framelegs 16 and 17 and then shifting, by sliding the upper ends of the legs16 and 17 until they are brought into true parallel spacing, the bolts20 and 22 laterally in their respective cooperating slots 19 and 19 Alsoby such arrangement, cramping of the pulley journal is positivelyprevented for no matter what the angular adjustment of the spindle 14may be, no cramping engagement is produced between the lower pulleyjournal and the co-operating spindle.

Normally, the weight of the lower pulley 13, spindle 14 and legs 16 and1'? will be exerted to press said pulley against the lower portion ofthe belt and, of course, this weight and also the weight of thebucket-equipped belt will be ex erted to hold the upper portion of thebelt frictionally engaged with the upper driving pulley not shown. Insome instances this will be found sufficient to afford the properdriving friction between the driving pulley and belt but where it isnot, then additional weight may be added such as the weighted bucket 26see Fig. 1, which, as shown, is hung from the cross bar 19.

In the operation of elevators of this general character it frequentlyhappens that grain will accumulate in the boot faster than it can becarried away by the bucket-equipped elevator belt. Suchover-accumulation usually occurs as a result of leaving one of the gates10 too wide open and many times results in a clogging of the elevatorthat will stop or retard the belt and cause a slippage between the beltand its upper driving pulley. If this slippage is not stopped in arelatively short time, the great friction produced thereby may createsuflicient heat to create a fire and cause much damage.

This fire hazard is substantially eliminated, however, in elevatorsconstructed in accordance with the arrangement illustrated for in theevent that the elevator should become clogged due to over-accumulationof grain in the boot, the lower pulley will be raised vertically by thebelt so that the buckets will work on the upper portion of theaccumulated grain until they have carried away the surplus at which timethe lower pulley will have dropped to its normal working position.

For affording a means of quickly raising the lower pulley manually fromthe operators floor A and thereby releasing the bucket-equipped beltfrom a jam, I provide a releasing connection which, as shown, involves alever 27 and two chains or cables 28 and 29, but may involve variousother arrangements. As illustrated in Fig. 1, cable 28 aifords a fulcrumfor lever 27 and is hung from the floor A; the intermediate portion ofsaid lever is connected to the cross bar 19 by a short link 30; andchain or cable 29 is extended upward through the passage 31 in floor Aand is adapted to be fastened on a hook 32 projected from wall 33 orother fixed part.

When the elevator belt is in normal action, chain 29 will be slackallowing the frame 161'l to drop and press lower pulley 13 against thelower portion of the bucket-equipped belt. If at any time the bootshould be clogged with grain to such an extent that the elevator belt isstopped and cannot relieve itself, the operator by pulling on cable 29can raise pulley 13 and thereby relieve the lower portion of the beltfrom its pressure against the accumulated grain allowing said lowerportion of the belt to rise and scrape off the upper portion of theaccumulated grain until the boot has been relieved from theover-accumulation of grain.

In actual practice this invention has been found efiicient for thepurposes had in view and to accomplish the purposes above enumerated andothers such as increased durability.

What I claim is:

l. The combination with an elevator boot having an inlet passage for thesupply of material thereto, of a supporting frame having parallel legsmounted for vertical movements on said boot, one of said legs at itsupper end having a rigidly and permanently secured cross bar to whichthe other leg is secured for vertical adjustments relative to the firstnoted leg, a pulley having a shaft, the ends of which are supported inthe lower ends of the legs of said frame by means of angularlyself-adjusting bearings that automatically adjust themselves to relativevertical adjustments of the said legs, the one in respect to the other,and an elevator belt running under said pulley and normally supportingsaid pulley and frame.

2. The combination with an elevator boot having an inlet passage for thesupply of material thereto, of a supporting frame having parallel legsmounted for vertical movements on said boot, one of said legs at itsupper end having a rigidly and permanently secured cross bar to whichthe other leg is secured for vertical adjustments relative to the firstnoted leg, a pulley having a shaft, the ends of which are supported inthe lower ends of the legs of said frame by means of angularlyself-adjusting bearings that automatically adjust themselves to relativevertical adjustments of the said legs, the one in respect to the other,an elevator belt running under said pulley and normally supporting saidpulley and frame, and a lifting device connected to the cross bar ofsaid frame for lifting said frame and pulley at will to relieve saidbelt from tension on said pulley.

3. The combination with an elevator boot having an inlet passage for thesupply of material thereto, of a supporting frame having parallel legsmounted for vertical movements on said boot, one of said legs at itsupper end having a rigidly and permanently secured cross bar to whichthe other leg is secured for vertical adjustments relative to the firstnoted leg, a pulley having a shaft, the ends of which are supported inthe lower ends of the legs of said frame, by means of angularlyself-adjusting bearings that automatically adjust themselves to relativevertical adjustments of the said legs, the one in respect to the other,and an elevator belt running under said pulley and normally supportingsaid pulley and frame, said relatively adjustable frame leg being alsoconnected to said cross bar for lateral adjustments to properly spacesaid legs.

AUGUST P. WINTER.

